What if Walt Disney was the producer of Looney Tunes/Walt Disney Animated Classics/Smurfs: The Lost Village
Smurfs: The Lost Village is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on The Smurfs comic book series created by Belgian comics artist Peyo and is Walt Disney Animation Studios' second adaptation of the Smurfs comics. It was written by Stacey Harman and Pamela Ribon and directed by Kelly Asbury, and stars the voices of Demi Lovato, Rainn Wilson, Joe Manganiello, Mandy Patinkin, Jack McBrayer, Danny Pudi, Michelle Rodriguez, Ellie Kemper, Ariel Winter, Meghan Trainor, Jake Johnson and Julia Roberts. In the film, a mysterious map prompts Smurfette, Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty to find a lost village before Gargamel does. Smurfs: The Lost Village was released on April 7, 2017 to mixed reviews from critics but it was a box-office success. It marked as the first non-''Winnie the Pooh'' Disney theatrical sequel since The Jungle Book 2 and the final theatrical sequel produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, since as of Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2, all later Disney theatrical sequels would be produced by DisneyToon Studios. Plot In Smurf Village, the Smurfs live peacefully among themselves and their leader is Papa Smurf. Some of the Smurfs include Clumsy Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Hefty Smurf and Smurfette, who was created by Gargamel from a lump of clay, but redeemed by Papa Smurf and became part of the village. Gargamel makes it his mission to capture the Smurfs, steal all of their essence, and become the most powerful wizard in the world. As the story begins, Smurfette begins to wonder what her purpose in life is, as do the other Smurfs who couldn't particularly define what a Smurfette is supposed to be. Brainy tries to use a special Smurfy Thing Finder that he has invented to discover what Smurfette was purposed for, but unfortunately it explodes when tested on her, leaving Smurfette and the other Smurfs with no answers. Deciding to take their minds off their lack of discovering her purpose, Smurfette along with Brainy, Hefty, and Clumsy go off testing their skills with smurfboarding in the forest. During her run, though, Smurfette lands near the wall separating the Smurf Forest from the Forbidden Forest and discovers what appeared to be a Smurf masked in leaves and other wild clothes, who ran away from Smurfette before she could discover who that Smurf was, although that Smurf dropped a yellow Smurf hat behind. Soon, however, Smurfette finds herself captured by Monty, Gargamel's pet vulture. While Gargamel can't use Smurfette for her Smurf essence given that she isn't a real Smurf, he still have her captive and has her give up the yellow Smurf hat she was carrying. Through the magic cauldron, Gargamel discovers that there was another group of Smurfs that was hidden in a location next to three tall trees in the Forbidden Forest. Soon enough, Hefty, Brainy, and Clumsy sneak their way into Gargamel's castle when they discover that Smurfette was missing and try to rescue her themselves, only to find themselves captured by Gargamel. They eventually make their escape back to the village, only to find themselves face to face with an angry Papa Smurf, who decides that he will to punishing the four Smurfs by grounding them. Before any of her three friends could object, Smurfette steps forward and agrees in accepting Papa Smurf's punishment, shooing herself and her three friends out of Papa Smurf's house before he could say anything more. That night, Smurfette goes away from the village in the hope of finding that mysterious Smurf she saw near the Forbidden Forest, only to find herself being followed by Hefty, Brainy, and Clumsy, who decide to join her on her quest simply because they are Team Smurf. Smurfette allows them to come with her, and so they enter the Forbidden Forest. Gargamel soon discovers them trying to find the lost village and heads out with Azrael and Monty to stop them. The four follow the map and end up in various adventures, all while encountering bizarre creatures; the four encounter a colony of fire-breathing dragonflies, where Gargamel follows them and tries to have them killed by having the dragonflies attack them. Smurfette, Brainy, Hefty and Clumsy survive, but then end up getting lost in a maze of caverns, where they eventually get out thanks to a stampede of glow-in-the-dark rabbits. The four then head off to a river and sail on a handmade raft along the river to get to the lost village, but then they encounter Gargamel, Azrael and Monty again. Following a brief chase, Gargamel is thrown out of his own raft, so Hefty and Smurfette convince the others to help save him. They do so, but instead of thanking them, he pushes them out of their raft, leaving them to plunge down a waterfall. Eventually, though, Smurfette and her friends are soon captured by the leaf-covered creature along with a few others who reveal themselves to be female Smurfs. They are taken to Smurfy Grove where they meet Smurfwillow, Smurfstorm, Smurfblossom, Smurflily and Smurfmelody, who all welcome the Smurfs to their humble home, although Smurfstorm suspects that Smurfette has other purposes in mind. Smurfstorm and Clumsy head away from the village to locate Gargamel and alert the others. During the trip, Clumsy reveals that Smurfette was created by Gargamel, which causes Smurfstorm to distrust Smurfette. Gargamel, who was led into a piranha-infested swamp, spots Clumsy and Smurfstorm, and has Monty attack them, but they fly away to return to the village. Meanwhile, back at Smurf Village, Papa Smurf tries to apologize to Smurfette over his actions on the previous night but soon discovers she, Brainy, Hefty, and Clumsy are gone, so he sets out to find them and set things right with them. With the help of a glowing rabbit, Papa Smurf finds Smurfy Grove and encounters with his maternal equal Smurfwillow. But this moment quickly turns sour as Gargamel appears with his cat Azrael and his vulture Monty to attack them with Freeze Balls. Smurfette is unaffected by the Freeze Balls since she isn't a real Smurf, so she gets to watch helplessly as Gargamel heads back to his lair with the captured Smurfs, feeling heartbroken for her actions. However, Snappy, Brainy's pet ladybug, shows her a picture of her and the others, and realizing she is not a real Smurf, heads back to Gargamel's lair to save the Smurfs. At Gargamel's lair, Brainy makes a plan to escape. Papa Smurf hears their plan and he and Smurfwillow decide to help them. Hefty, Brainy, Clumsy, and some of the female Smurfs succeed at the plan until Gargamel, Azrael and Monty spot them and put some of the female Smurfs and Clumsy into his Smurfilator, a machine capable of extracting their essence. Smurfette appears, tricking Gargamel into believing she wants to be an evil Smurf again. When Gargamel tries to turn Smurfette into an evil Smurf, he realizes Smurfette is absorbing his magic powers instead. Suddenly, an explosion causes Gargamel, Azrael and Monty to be catapulted far from his lair and flying back into the piranha-infested lake, where Gargamel is arrested by woodland animal police officers, thus saving the Smurfs. Unfortunately, Smurfette's sacrifice for her friends ends up reverting her to a lifeless lump of blue clay. The Smurfs bring Smurfette's remains to the Smurf Village, where they hold a memorial for her and hold hands with each other to share their griefs. However, the emotion from the gathered Smurfs causes magic to emanate from them and re-animate the remains of Smurfette, transforming her back into a living Smurf once more and everybody happily celebrates. Smurf Village and Smurfy Grove rejoice in their new unity; in the end, Smurfette finally finds her purpose and becomes most of all, a true-blue Smurf. Voice cast Production Development On May 10, 2012, just two weeks after they announced production of The Smurfs 2, Disney was already developing a script for The Smurfs 3 with scribes Karey Kirkpatrick and Chris Poche. Hank Azaria, who played Gargamel in the first two films, revealed that the third film "might actually deal with the genuine origin of how all these characters ran into each other way back when". It was later confirmed that plans for a second sequel had been folded (due to box-office performance with the previous film), and ditched the live-action/CG hybrid format altogether in favor of a completely computer-animated reboot being produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios instead. Kelly Asbury was confirmed to have been hired to direct the film in March 2014. The plotline was also revealed with the film exploring the origins of the Smurfs, and also the news that the film would feature a new take on the characters, with designs and environments more closely following both the artwork created by Peyo and the animation from Here Comes the Smurfs and the 1980s TV series (which utilized limited animation). Jordan Kerner was hired as producer, with Mary Ellen Bauder co-producing; Asbury was already confirmed as the film's director. On June 14, 2015, Disney confirmed the original title of Get Smurfy, along with a first look at the film. On February 12, 2016, it was confirmed that the film had been retitled to Smurfs: The Lost Village. Casting On January 16, 2015, Mandy Patinkin was added to the cast of the animated adventure film to voice Papa Smurf, who was previously voiced by Jonathan Winters in the live-action/CGI films. On June 14, 2015, Demi Lovato was revealed as the voice of Smurfette, and Rainn Wilson as Gargamel. Since the release of The Smurfs 2 in 2013, two of the Smurfs voice actors from the previous franchise had died, Jonathan Winters who voiced Papa Smurf, and Anton Yelchin, who voiced Clumsy Smurf. Music All tracks written by Christopher Lennertz. Release Home media Reception Box office Critical response Smurfs: The Lost Village received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 38% based on 80 reviews and an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Smurfs: The Lost Village may satisfy very young viewers and hardcore Smurfaholics. It's a pure digital fantasy, with elegant and tactile animation, so it's more true to the Smurf spirit, and should perform solidly". Trivia *This is the first Disney theatrical sequel since The Jungle Book 2 and the final theatrical sequel produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, since as of Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2, all later Disney theatrical sequels would be produced by DisneyToon Studios. *The success of this film resulted in a new TV series, entitled Smurfs Adventures. The TV series used traditional hand-drawn animation, instead of 3-D computer animation like in the film to satisfy nostalgic Smurf fans.